Gustavo Santaolalla waves and smiles from his home in Los Angeles, California. He arrived in that city of dreams in mid-1978, with one hand behind and one hand forward (with some instruments and songs, too). He is now world famous and respected as musician, producer and businessman of the entertainment industry. It is its own brand, backed by the prestige that awards give. A few Grammys of all colors, a Golden Globe, two Baftas and above all, two Oscars: these awards were awarded for the soundtracks of Secret in the mountain of Ang Lee and Babel of Alejandro González Iñárritu.
His influence extends through the production of more than a hundred albums, many of them fundamental to the development and evolution of Latin American rock. The music of iconic groups like The Prisoners, Tacuba Coffee and Divided They carry his distinctive seal, showing the diversity of textures and colors that he prints on each project. The list is longer, of course. The list of works, tours and productions that he did, does and will do is also long. The music of the game and the series The Last of Usthe soundtrack of a documentary about Eric Clapton and a world tour that celebrates 20 years of his album Snore.
Comes from playing at the concert Spanish Dracula at the Los Angeles Opera with the Colombian director Lina González Granados and is working to release a musical based on the film in 2026 Pan’s Labyrinthof Guillermo Del Toro. “We have been working on it for years. The thing is that Guillermo is an extremely busy guy. As busy as I am, see? But the idea is to have something on stage in 2026, when the film will be 20 years old. Let’s see if we get there, but there are many many songs already made. I’m working on it with Paul Williamshe does the lyrics,” he anticipates.
In the midst of all that artistic whirlwind, Gustavo Santaolalla Say hello and smile from Los Angeles. Hyperactive and verbose, one of the most relevant and prestigious Argentine musicians in the world spoke with Infobae Culture about his role as producer in the documentary Noritadedicated to Nora Cortinas -the president of the founding Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who died in May of this year at the age of 94-; but he also reflected on the present of Latin music, the crazy world of donald trump and Javier Mileiand all his musical projects for the future. Santaolalla doesn’t stop, never. And he enjoys it.
—How did this story from the documentary about Nora Cortiñas come to you?
—I had a friendly relationship with Norita for many years… She is a person that I always greatly admired. I always comment that I was struck by her ability to transmute the pain of what it can be like to lose a child (and lose it in that way) into a luminous thing. And when I say luminous I mean it literally, because she was a person who – even being small, because she was very small – emanated an impressive light. I walked into a room and there was light.. A very, very rude thing. Well the thing is that Jason McNamara starts filming it. He knew the mothers because there was a documentary about Robert Coxthe director of Buenos Aires Herald during the dictatorship. From there he meets the mothers and falls in love with Norita. I think she didn’t know very well what that was at first. And he begins to film it and work with two very good Argentine musicians, Paco Cabral and Matías Ossola. When Norita gets the token that it is a documentary about her, she says “ok, well, I want Gustavo to do the music.”
And I said “of course, I love it.” But I didn’t know they were already working on music. These guys are very good musicians and they had done some things that were very nice. There I brought another musician who works with me here, whose name is Juan Luquiwhich is also great and I gave some directions, that is, in terms of the sound of what I wanted, I incorporated Javier Casalla. say some guidelines and I composed some leitmotifs, the opening and certain things in the middle and at the end. We put the effort together and thus the music belongs to the four of us. But I was also interested in getting involved in the film, more in the production but from the creative angle. Then he joined Andrea Tortonesewhose animation work is fascinating.
—What do you think is the significance of the film, beyond Nora Cortiñas?
—It seems to me that the film is very important at this particular moment. In Argentina and in the world. You saw that the world is experiencing a very ugly moment, it is like an apocalyptic vision… Today there is a lack of humanity, an emphasis placed on aggression, insults. And not listening. Note that one of the most important things to make music is listening. And if you want to make music with another person, if you don’t listen, it’s impossible. You have to play and you have to let the other play and you have to listen to yourself and the other.
We are in a world, for example, that is deciding whether what is happening in Gaza is genocide or not… It is angry. And I feel that, within that world, Argentina is a kind of laboratory, a testing place, let’s see how far we can go.. We have this president exalted by a certain segment of global right-wing advertising, and so an outsider reads “Milei’s Argentina”, “Argentinas’s changing”. Here in the United States, sometimes they talk to me about that and don’t mention at all everything that we know is happening.
It’s like a Netflix series. In other words, a guy who is a panelist who shouts, who insults, who dresses up, who grabs a chainsaw, what do I know… And then, given the conditions, he ends up president. And no one really knew what it meant. It happens to all of us that you wake up in the morning and say, “Stop, stop, is what I’m experiencing real?
—Is there a way out for this reality that surpasses fiction?
—I think it’s important to make it clear that, anyway, if there are people who love him like… Perfect, I respect that. But let’s say it like it is: when they say “he’s doing what he said he was going to do,” I say “No! “They are telling a lie.” He’s doing part of what he said he was going to do.. Yes, it’s cutting, this, that. But where was I going to cut it from? That part is not a small part. That part of what he said had two parts. One was to carry it out and the other was how it was going to be carried out. Because “there is no money”, but to buy airplanes, to do internal intelligence, is there money for that?
I’m still positive. And I believe that life is a succession of problems and solutions. And I think that when everything is good, don’t worry because at one point the rubber breaks, you don’t get the tickets… And when everything is bad, don’t worry, because a solution arrives too. So, about the movie, I know there are a lot of people who are going to go see it.. And I know that there are a lot of fools who are not even going to be interested, who are going to deny it, who are going to bastardize it without even knowing what it is about, or having seen it or anything. But there, in the middle, there is a group of people who maybe one day will say “Oh, the truth is that I voted for him but I didn’t know what was happening. I invite those people to go with a clean head and watch the film. Because the film can also serve as medicine for memory.
—In the 90s you predicted the global triumph of Latin rock, there were the albums you made with Café Tacuba, Molotov, Divididos, La Bersuit, La Vela Puerca and so many more… What remained of all that? How is Latin culture in the world?
—I notice that it continues to grow. I see, for example, a bet Netflix has been making since The Eternaut until One hundred years of loneliness and Pedro Paramo (I made the music). That is, Latin is manifested in different ways. Urban music is on the up and up and I would tell you within music, for example – and I’m talking about Hispanicity – I have very pleasantly received the entry of Spain with artists like C. Tangana and obviously Rosaliawhich have become the music of the world. We are crazy Latinos and Hispanics doing that. It is a reality that has to do with the strength that we are having and that is growing.
—The temptation is to ask yourself if we are not worse off, then…
—I come from a generation where music occupied a role that it does not occupy today in society. I mean, when I grew up, music had a very important role in the change, in what were the 60s and 70s, which was an incredible time. Eastern philosophies began to arrive, experimentation with substances that altered levels of consciousness began and rock became the folk music of the youth of the world. In that context, music occupied a role that it does not occupy today. At that time it was Jimi Hendrix or was Crosby, Stills & Nash or I don’t know, The Who…Nowadays it is Taylor Swift. Then I say: it is something else, it occupies another place.
But I can tell you one thing regarding our country. When we started, I talk about Almond, Manal, Vox Dei and Rainbowwhich I consider foundational bands, the people who followed us were our age. I mean, I was 17, 18 years old, and so was the audience. Over time, a wave of gerontocracy was generated. To be great in Argentine rock you had to be “big.” So, for example, when I produce The era of stupidityArnedo was already 40. And when I produce Debaucherythe Bersuits were no longer 21 or 22 years old…
When I suddenly found out that there was a kid who was making three Luna Parks called Duki, and that no one knew him (let’s say, “no one.” Of course thousands of people knew him), I loved it and I immediately got hooked. That’s why I’ve also worked with them. And all because I find empathy with a part that I like. I always said that for me music is divided into two categories: good or bad. I have no problem with any genre of music..
The appearance of these kids is, for me, once again progress. There is music that is alternative and kids that are saying things: Wos, YSY A, Thunder…And you have a Duki who is almost a popstar, but who also says things. Furthermore, they all have something of a bond between them, which is very nice. It didn’t happen in rock like that, that way, at least I didn’t experience it like that.
(Photos: AP/Chris Pizzello, file; Charles Sykes/Invision/AP; Alejandra Palacios)
